Railroad car construction

ABSTRACT

A railroad car floor construction including a plurality of longitudinally spaced Z-shaped crossbearers, each crossbearer having an upper cutout portion for receiving and supporting a wire duct therein, a longitudinally extending hat-shaped wire duct having upper horizontal laterally extending flanges, a subfloor structure mounted atop the upper flange portion of the Z-shaped crossbearers, the flanges of said wire duct being attached to the underside of said subfloor with the wire duct extending in the wire duct cutout of each of the crossbearers, Zshaped crossmembers mounted on top of the subfloor structure and over a respective crossbearer top flange, the top flange of each crossmember being spaced longitudinally of another and adapted to receive thereover the top floor sheeting, the wire duct being perforated to receive the wiring therein longitudinally of the car.

United States Patent 3,333,552 8/1967 Reynolds 3,494,657 -2/l970 Tantlinger ABSTRACT: A railroad car floor construction including a plurality of longitudinally spaced Z-shaped crossbearers, each crossbearer having an upper cutout'portion for receiving and supporting a wire duct therein, a longitudinally extending hatshaped wire duct having upper horizontal laterally extending flanges, a subfloor structure mounted atop the upper flange portion of the Z-shaped crossbearers, the flanges of said wire duct being attached to the underside of said subfloor with the wire duct extending in the wire duct cutout of each of the crossbearers, Z-shaped' crossmembers mounted on top of the subfloor structure and over a respective crossbearer top flange, the top flange of each crossmember being spaced longitudinally of another and adapted to receive thereover the top floor sheeting, the wire duct being perforated to receive the wiring therein longitudinally of the car.

PATENIED DEC 7 Ian SHEET 1 BF 2 INVENTOR WILL/AM VAN DER SLUYS PATENTEU BEE 7197' SHEET 2 BF 2 INVENTOR WILLIAM VAN DER SLUYS ATfY.

RAILROAD CAR CONSTRUCTION This invention relates to a railroad car floor construction and in particular to a floor construction for a passenger car of the commuter type wherein wire duct means is formed underneath the subflooring and extends through the crossbearers.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a transit car floor beam assembly with subfloor sheeting disposed between top and bottom beam sections.

Still another object of this invention is to provide for a hatsection wire duct extending through the crossbearer floor beams beneath the subfloor sheet which forms the upper wall of the duct.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG; 1 is a top partial sectional plan view of the floor construction of the railroad vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. I;

and

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of a floor construction of the railroad vehicle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the drawings, the railroad vehicle or railroad passenger car of the commuter type is generally designated at 2. The car 2 is provided with an I-beam center sill structure 4 the longitudinal ends of which carry the draft gear and coupler housing structure 6. A plurality of crossbearers 8 are spaced longitudinally of the car and connected with the l-beam center sill 4. The car is also provided with side sill structures 10 which connect with the crossbearers 8 and connect with the sidewalls 12 of the car.

Each crossbearer 8 is Z-shapcd in structure having a center vertical web 14, a bottom horizontal flange l6 and a top horizontal flange 18 extending in the opposite direction to the flange 16. Each crossbearer 8 is provided with a rectangular cutout section that extends into the upright web 14 and the upper horizontal flange 18 as best seen in FIG. 3. This cutout section 20 is adapted to receive portions of the longitudinally extending electrical wire carrying duct unit 22. The duct unit 22 in FIG. 3 is shown broken away at its juncture with a crossbearer 8 and is an inverted hat-section or channel section with laterally outwardly extending horizontal flanges 24 and 26 connecting with vertical flange portions 28 and 30 connected to one another by bottom horizontal web 32. The web portions 32 is disposed over the bottom edge 34 of the cutout section 20. The lateral horizontal flanges 24 and 26 of the hatshaped section duct unit attached to the underside of the subflooring 36 which spans and is disposed over the crossbearers 8 and is attached to the upper horizontal flanges 18 of each crossbearer. The crossbearer 8 is therefore the lower support or floor beam for the subflooring 36 and there is provided an upper floor beam or Z-shaped crossmember 38 for each crossbearer. The members are spaced apart from one another longitudinally and mounted on top of the top surface of the subflooring 36 and over and above the horizontal flange 18 of a respective crossbearer 8. The top floor beam comprises a central upright or vertical web 40, a bottom horizontal flange 42 which rests on the subflooring over a respective crossbearer and an upper horizontal flange 44 which faces in the direction opposite to the lower flange 42 and in the same direction as the lower horizontal flange 16 of the crossbearer 8 and generally over the lower crossbearer member 16. The upright or vertical web of the upper floor beam 38 is of less vertical extent than the web 14 of the lower floor beam or crossbearer 8. The top flooring or deck 46 (as seen in phantom line in FIG. 2) is mounted between and straddles over and on top of each of the upper horizontal flanges 44 of the top floor support beams 38.

It is seen that the wire duct unit 22 is provided with a plurality of wire inlet apertures 48 in the sidewalls 28 and 30 and an inspection cover or removable panel 50 is attached to and covers the underside openings 54 in the bottom wall 32 of the duct unit as by bolt means 6, as shown in exploded view. in

FIG. 3. FIG. 2 shows one of the ducts 22 in relation to the cutout 20 of a crossbearer.

Thus what is provided herein is a channel section floor beam assembly with the subfloor sheet disposed between top and bottom beam sections-38 and 8 and the hat-section wire duct 22 extends through the lower floor beam or crossbearer arrangement 8 beneath the subfloor sheet 36 which forms the upper wall of the duct 22. The result is a compact highly strengthened floor structure and wire-carrying duct arrangement.

As various changes could be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In a railroad vehicle, a center sill structure. crossbearers connecting with said center sill, each crossbearer being provided with an upper cutout section in longitudinal alignment with a respective cutout portion of the other crossbearers, a longitudinally extending duct extending into the cutout portion of each crossbearer, a flooring mounted to the top portion of said duct, a plurality of transverse crossmembers mounted on said flooring and in longitudinally spaced alignment from one another, each crossmember being mounted in lengthwise alignment with a respective crossbearer and each crossmember having upper surfaces for supporting a further flooring thereon.

2. The invention according to claim 1, and

said crossmember being Z-shaped in transverse cross section and comprising an upright generally vertical web, a lower horizontal flange mounted on the flooring and an upper horizontal flange extending from the vertical web in a direction opposite to the lower horizontal flange.

3. The invention according to claim 1, and

said duct forming an inverted hat-section, the flooring being mounted on the hat-section for completing the closing of the duct.

4. The invention according to claim 1, and

said duct comprising an inverted generally U-shaped member having a lower bottom wall and a pair of upright walls, each upright wall having a laterally upwardly extending flange for mounting of the duct on the under surface of the flooring.

5. The invention according to claim 4, and

said bottom wall of the duct having a removable panel.

6. The invention according to claim 5, and

said removable panel being held by bolt means.

7. In a railroad vehicle, a center sill structure, crossbearers connecting with said center sill, each crossbearer being provided with an upper cutout section in longitudinal alignment with a respective cutout portion of the other crossbearers, a longitudinally extending duct extending into the cutout portion of each crossbearer, a subflooring mounted to the top portion of said duct, a plurality of transverse crossmembers mounted on said subflooring and in longitudinally spaced alignment from one another, each crossmember being mounted in lengthwise alignment with a respective crossbearer and each crossmember having upper surfaces for supporting a flooring thereon,

said duct comprising an inverted generally U-shaped member having a lower bottom wall and a pair of upright walls, each upright wall having a laterally upwardly extending flange for mounting of the duct on the under surface of the subflooring,

said crossmember being Z-shaped in transverse cross section and comprising an upright generally vertical web, a lower horizontal flange mounted on the subflooring and an upper horizontal flange extending extending from the vertical web in a direction opposite to the lower horizontal flange. 

1. In a railroad vehicle, a center sill structure, crossbearers connecting with said center sill, each crossbearer being provided with an upper cutout section in longitudinal alignment with a respective cutout portion of the other crossbearers, a longitudinally extending duct extending into the cutout portion of each crossbearer, a flooring mounted to the top portion of said duct, a plurality of transverse crossmembers mounted on said flooring and in longitudinally spaced alignment from one another, each crossmember being mounted in lengthwise alignment with a respective crossbearer and each crossmember having upper surfaces for supporting a further flooring thereon.
 2. The invention according to claim 1, and said crossmember being Z-shaped in transverse cross section and comprising an upright generally vertical web, a lower horizontal flange mounted on the flooring and an upper horizontal flange extending from the vertical web in a direction opposite to the lower horizontal flange.
 3. The invention according to claim 1, and said duct forming an inverted hat-section, the flooring being mounted on the hat-section for completing the closing of the duct.
 4. The invention according to claim 1, and said duct comprising an inverted generally U-shaped member having a lower bottom wall and a pair of upright walls, each upright wall having a laterally upwardly extending flange for mounting of the duct on the under surface of the flooring.
 5. The invention according to claim 4, and said bottom wall of the duct having a removable panel.
 6. The invention according to claim 5, and said removable panel being held by bolt means.
 7. In a railroad vehicle, a center sill structure, crossbearers connecting with said center sill, each crossbearer being provided with an upper cutout section in longitudinal alignment with a respective cutout portion of the other crossbearers, a longitudinally extending duct extending into the cutout portion of each crossbearer, a subflooring mounted to the top portion of said duct, a plurality of transverse crossmembers mounted on said subflooring and in longitudinally spaced alignment from one another, each crossmember being mounted in lengthwise alignment with a respective crossbearer and each crossmember having upper surfaces for supporting a flooring thereon, said duct comprising an inverted generally U-shaped member having a lower bottom wall and a pair of upright walls, each upright wall having a laterally upwardly extending flange for mounting of the duct on the under surface of the subflooring, said crossmember being Z-shaped in transverse cross section and comprising an upright generally vertical web, a lower horizontal flange mounted on the subflooring and an upper horizontal flange extending from the vertical web in a direction opposite to the lower horizontal flange. 